Saturday, June 21, 2014

A court has ordered state Sen. Judith Zaffirini to stop paying herself out of funds that she is supposed to be managing in trust for the heir of two wealthy sisters.

Zaffirini and her associates have paid themselves more than $1.2 million in various attorney’s fees and executor fees out of a cluster of interlocking partnerships, trusts, and an estate they control for the ostensible benefit of Rocio G. Guerra.

Guerra sued Zaffirini and her associates, alleging that they are effectively looting the inheritance that her mother and aunt left her and her two children. That inheritance, mostly real estate in a fast-developing part of Laredo, has been valued as high as $150 million.

In response, Zaffirini’s side filed papers arguing that Guerra, her distant cousin, should forfeit her inheritance. They also cut off her monthly support payment last September, after a dispute over a car purchase.

In orders filed during the past three weeks, Judge Jesus Garza rejected the argument that Guerra should forfeit her inheritance, ordered Zaffirini and her associates to continue monthly support payments to Guerra, and restricted their attorney’s fees to $15,000 a month, payable to the lead attorney.

Zaffirini’s side had been billing fees upwards of $100,000 a month through the beginning of this year. She and her associates had already collected $420,000 in executor fees from estate that only had $107.169 in cash and receivables.

Garza found that if Zaffirini’s side kept scooping so much money out of the trust, it would “make ineffectual a judgment in favor of Rocio Guerra, in that it may cause the irretrievable loss of substantial assets that were meant to benefit… Rocio G. Guerra and her two minor children …”

The court also ordered Zaffirini and associates “to desist and refrain from … (p)aying their legal fees and expenses from the Fiduciary Assets … (and u)sing any of the Fiduciary Assets for their own personal benefit …”

Casey Kasem's three eldest children have no plans to fight their estranged stepmom over his final resting place, sources told the Daily News on Monday.

The kids – Kerri, 41, Mike, 40, and Julie, 38 – were at his bedside when he died early Father's Day morning and say they believe his spirit will be with them when they hold a memorial service next weekend without any physical remains, a family source told The News.

Kerri was her dad's conservator during his final days in hospice but informed the hospital shortly after his death that her stepmother, Jean Kasem, was taking over as the decision maker, Kerri's lawyer told The News.

"I was contacted by (Jean's lawyer) Steve Haney and asked if we would make arrangements with the hospital for Casey's remains to be turned over. We immediately responded that we'd be happy to do so, and Kerri informed the hospital that Jean had complete authority regarding final disposition," lawyer Troy Martin said.

Judge Colleen Weiland has ordered the daughter of State Rep. Henry Rayhons' wife, Donna Lou Rayhons, to be her mother's temporary guardian.

Weiland issued the order in Hancock County District Court Tuesday.

Suzan Brunes of Klemme will be Donna Lou Rayhons' temporary guardian. Donna Lou Rayhons is a resident of Concord Care Center in Garner.

Henry Rayhons, 78, has been a state representative since 1997. He's been married to Donna Lou Rayhons since 2007, according to court records.

The parties also said they were working on a stipulation concerning other issues about visiting Donna Lou Rayhons which would be presented to the court at a later date, Weiland's order said.

Brunes said her mother has Alzheimer's disease.

"...certain issues have arisen while (Donna Rayhons) has been a resident of Concord Care Center including, but not limited to issues between her spouse (Henry Rayhons) and her other family members, but also between her spouse and the staff at Concord Care Center," Brunes said in her application.

Brunes said Henry Rayhons has difficulty following parameters set by Concord Care staff about removal of Donna Rayhons from the care center without staff permission, being in her room with the door closed, and not entering Donna Rayhons' room because of alleged conflicts with her roommate.
The problems caused by the situation has caused her mother's mental health to deteriorate, Brunes said in her application.

A final hearing on the appointment of a guardian and conservator is set for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 12.

Three cases of elder financial abuse totaling nearly a half million dollars have led Erie County’s top prosecutor to call for legislative action.

District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III on Wednesday urged state lawmakers to approve a package of bills that would help prevent and combat such crimes.

“There is simply no good reason to continue to dawdle, dither and haggle while our seniors continue to be exploited by this especially low form of swindler,” he said.

Sedita issued his call for action after three people pleaded guilty this week in three separate cases to taking financial advantage of elderly people.

Sedita said the three cases show the need for the Legislature to act on the legislation package, sponsored by Assemblyman Robin L. Schimminger, D-Kenmore, and State Sen. Patrick M. Gallivan, R-Elma.

The bills are based on the recommendations of the New York State White Collar Crime Task Force, on which Sedita served as co-chairman. The task force report was released last September by the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York.

The state departments that are supposed to protect children and mentally-retarded inmates are being challenged in the wake of incidents that led to preventable deaths.

First, State Sen. Eleanor Sobel accused the Department of Children and Families (DCF) of a “cover-up and a whitewash” after the agency said no records were generated during an internal investigation into a previous alleged cover-up, the Miami Herald reports.

Second, there are questions about suspicious deaths of inmates at prisons in the state that were never investigated by the Department of Corrections, the Miami Heraldreports in a separate article.

Regarding DCF, the genesis of the cover-up accusation was the discovery that a regional office that covers Broward, Palm Beach and three other counties failed to write and send in reports on the deaths of 30 children known to the agency as being at risk of harm. At the time, last fall and early 2014, the Herald was known to be preparing a report on such deaths.

That report, Innocents Lost, was published in March. It said 477 children supposedly under DCF watch had died in Florida over a six-year period. The series led to legislative hearings and bills to overhaul the agency.

More recently, the Herald reported that the 30 deaths from Southeast had been withheld from the total. DCF Deputy Secretary Pete Digre was assigned to investigate.

When he finished, Digre said Regional Administrator Dennis Miles may have violated the letter of the law, but didn’t intentionally “shield information from anyone,” the Herald reported. DCF Secretary Mike Carroll gave Miles two days of suspension without pay.

“I can assure you that no information was destroyed, and no child deaths were unaccounted for,” Carroll said.

When the Herald tried to obtain the records of the investigation, Digre and Carroll said there were not any — nothing on paper, nothing digital.

Sobel, a Democrat who chairs the Senate’s Children, Family and Elder Affairs Committee, said the agency is engaging in a huge cover-up to preserve its public image. “They are obstructing information, they are obstructing justice, and they are obstructing transparency,” she told the Herald.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Erin Marston signed an order Tuesday officially terminating the state guardianship of Bret Bohn, a 27-year-old Wasilla hunting guide entangled in a high-profile medical custody battle. Bohn's family had long fought their son's hospitalization, alleging he was being held against his will and forced to take drugs he didn't want or need.

Bohn spent seven months in Anchorage and Seattle hospitals diagnosed with a brain infection. A state-appointed guardian made his medical decisions.

An Anchorage magistrate recommended ending the guardianship during a closed-door hearing Friday. Mario Bird, the family's attorney, confirmed in an email Tuesday that the case was closed and, he wrote, "Bret’s family is celebrating!"

In the wake of two choking deaths of severely disabled residents moved from developmental centers, lawmakers moved Thursday to stop patient transfers until the deaths are investigated and evaluations of the moving process can be completed. The state is planning to close two of its seven developmental centers, which care for people with disabilities.

Closing the North Jersey Developmental Center in Totowa and the Woodbridge Developmental Center would necessitate moving hundreds of people.

State officials say transitioning residents from these centers to privately run facilities with more community access is helpful and can save money.

“The urgency today is because of the two confirmed deaths,” said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood.

“It’s about the most vulnerable people in New Jersey,” she said. Huttle said that she wanted to slow the process for closing the facilities down until there was proof everyone could be properly cared for.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services said previously there was no “causal connection” between their transitions from the developmental centers and the deaths.

The bill was released by the Assembly Human Services Committee on a 4-2 vote.

The measure appears unlikely to become law.

It would have to be signed by Governor Christie, whose administration initiated the plan to close the developmental centers. Opponents of the bill said closing the centers now makes sense. “We just feel it is a little late in the process to be stopping and hitting the pause button on these transfers,” said Sharon Levine, a lobbyist for the Arc of New Jersey, a disability advocacy organization.

The bill would also halt the transfer of people with disabilities that receive care out of state from being transferred against their will to a facility in New Jersey.

The initiative, called the “Returning Home New Jersey,” seeks to move people from out of state closer to their families. Some families, however, expressed fear that their loved one would be upset by the disruption in their lives and receive a lower quality of care.

Ohio attorney general says an attorney convicted of stealing from western Ohio residents while acting as their guardian has been sentenced to prison.

Attorney General Mike DeWine says 38-year-old James Thomas Jr., of Brookville, was sentenced Tuesday in a Preble County court in Eaton to four and a half years in prison.

Thomas was ordered to repay more than $200,000 to victims.

Thomas' attorney didn't immediately return a call for comment.
DeWine said Thomas was charged with three counts of theft from an elderly person or disabled adult and three counts of falsification after investigators found that Thomas took hundreds of thousands of dollars from four people's bank accounts between 2007 and 2013.

Investigators say Thomas said he took money to support an addiction to the drug ephedrine.

A 15-count indictment filed against a former Bexar County judge alleges the judge engaged in a scheme to defraud citizens of their right to his honest services.

The court document was filed Wednesday afternoon. It charges 50-year-old Angus Kelly McGinty with one count of conspiracy to commit federal bribery, one count of bribery, one count of extortion and 12 counts of honest services wire fraud.

The indictment alleges McGinty solicited and accepted bribes from San Antonio lawyer Alberto Acevedo, Jr. over a nine-month period in 2013.

In the scheme, McGinty reportedly received gifts, services and payments from Acevedo that totaled more than $6,655, according to the indictment. In exchange, McGinty would return favorable rulings for Acevedo’s clients, including "lenient sentences and less restrictive conditions of release."

Sources outside the courthouse said McGinty swapped with Acevedo, giving the attorney bond reductions on his cases in exchange for auto repair work on the judge’s vehicles.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

A state health department investigation was launched because an ABC15 report found multiple problems at an assisted living facility for disabled and vulnerable adults, records show.

Inspectors with the Arizona Health Services Department visited The Lodge at 14th Street two days after an undercover ABC15 investigation.

The facility was forced to file a plan of correction and fix the problems. At this point, it's not clear if further action will be taken against the facility or its management.

The full inspection report and plan of correction was released to ABC15 through a public records request.

State inspection mirrors ABC15 investigation
In late February, the ABC15 Investigators went undercover at The Lodge and shot or obtained videos and pictures to document the conditions.

Our report revealed filthy rooms, residents in tattered and dirty clothing, blood- and bug-stained mattresses without sheets or blankets, and evidence of past and current bed bug problems.
State inspectors found the exact same problems.

In addition, they found issues with a lack of proof of employee certifications and background checks.

A lawyer from Pepper Pike faces an indefinite suspension from practicing law based on claims he padded bills to three clients, each a long-term care company.

The lawyer, Scott C. Smith, disputes the claim. And his lawyer argued before the Ohio Supreme Court that Smith was effectively denied due process because he was not allowed access to certain evidence that could help exonerate him.

The state Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline recommended Smith's suspension. The board determined that Smith's billing descriptions didn't reflect work he performed and that he billed clients for work that was not in their case files. The board also found he billed multiple clients for the same amounts on the same day even though the cases were at different stages of litigation.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The 16-month saga of Justina Pelletier, who has been at the center of a custody battle between her family and the state of Massachusetts, is expected to end Wednesday.

Justina's father, Lou Pelletier, said Tuesday that he has an order from Massachusetts Juvenile Judge Joseph Johnston saying that she can return home and her parents will regain full custody.

Justina's mother, Linda Pelletier, who has been staying in a hotel near the JRI Susan Wayne Center for Excellence in Thompson where their daughter is being held, got a call from the facility's director around 3:45 p.m., Lou Pelletier said.

The director told her that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families had received word that custody of Justina would return to her family, he said.

Pelletier said Justina called him from his wife's cellphone and was "screaming" with happiness.

"Right now it's 'Get her home, get the healing going,' then we'll deal with the people who put Justina in this horrific physical condition," Pelletier said.

Authorities on Friday arrested former Floyd County deputy court clerk Connie Nadine May and judge’s secretary Carol Corbin in connection with an investigation into the possible doctoring of court records.

May, 51, is accused of illegally altering the records of two defendants, backdating the sentence dispositions of two men by three days. Corbin, 55, then lied about the documents. Both lied days later to a Rome police investigator about the records, their indictment states.
May allegedly failed to immediately process court records, which resulted in the delayed release of two inmates, Floyd County Superior Court Clerk Barbara Penson said.

Indicted and arrested Friday, both women were released on their own recognizance.

May is charged with two counts of public record fraud and one count each of making false statements and violating her oath as a public officer.

Corbin, a secretary for Chief Judge Walter Matthews, is charged with four counts of making false statements.

A Dalton lawyer accused of using a forged signature in court in an attempt to get attorney’s fees was convicted and sentenced this week to six months in prison.
Jurors in Floyd County Superior Court convicted Lyle Vincent Anderson, 63, of first-degree forgery. Judge Tami Colston sentenced Anderson to six months in prison, followed by three and half years’ probation.
“I hate for anybody to receive the punishment that he received, but if anybody deserved it, he deserved it,” said Paul Ware, whose signature Anderson forged. “I have empathy, but I don’t have much sympathy.”

Anderson’s conviction stems from a 2010 civil suit he filed against Ware and Teresa Watson. Anderson claimed in that suit he was given two cases to evaluate, and that he spent more than 100 hours of legal work for which he wasn’t fully paid.

Anderson then sought damages for breach of contract, among other complaints.

Ware said Friday that Anderson wanted more than $200,000 for his legal work, and claimed Ware had guaranteed payment.

“None of that was true,” Ware added.

Anderson’s suit reached trial in June 2011. During that trial Anderson had a business card that purportedly had Ware’s signature on it. A handwriting examiner, however, said it wasn’t Ware’s signature.

Anderson lost his case, and Ware approached District Attorney Leigh Patterson about criminal charges.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

An Anchorage judge is recommending the state terminate its legal guardianship over Bret Bohn, the 27-year-old Wasilla man who has been at the center of a medical custody battle between the state and his family.

Bohn, who is currently living in Idaho, spoke by telephone at his hearing today in an Anchorage courtroom. The media was not allowed to be present but his family and attorney spoke after the proceeding.

“I think all the parties have come to the agreement that Bret Bohn has regained capacity and he is now ready to re-enter society as the young man he was before he had a guardian placed over him last fall,” said Mario Bird, an attorney for Bohn’s parents.

Bohn was declared medically incapacitated a short time after he was admitted to Providence Alaska Medical Center last fall; first for insomnia, then for seizures.

The family clashed with hospital staff over medications given to their son.

A judge overrode his parent’s power of attorney and gave sole control over Bohn’s medical decisions to a paid public guardian.

Lorraine Phillips, Bohn’s mother, said she was looking forward to seeing her son soon and couldn’t be happier that he had regained his rights. She said her son is doing well and is able to make his own decisions, including whether he might seek legal redress over what happened to him.

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly signed into law the Navajo Adult Guardianship Act, according to a press release from his office.

The act reaffirms the rights of Navajos with disabilities when making decisions that are related to matters such as financial, educational, housing and guardianship consent.

"The most important thing we need to remember is that (disabled citizens) have rights that are guaranteed by Navajo Fundamental Law," Shelly said in the press release.

During the process, officials from Shelly's administration met with Hoskie Benally, president of the Navajo Nation Advisory Council on Disabilities, and with representatives from the Native American Disability Law Center to discuss the legislation, which was sponsored by Navajo Nation Council Delegate Danny Simpson.

Benally and Simpson attended the signing ceremony on Thursday in the state room inside the Office of the President and Vice President in Window Rock, Ariz.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Why is Florida resident and Holocaust survivor Marie Winkelman still in guardianship?

This is the sixth in a series of articles about the landmark guardianship of Holocaust survivor, Marie Winkelman, in Sarasota, Florida, established by a mediated settlement agreement without any evidence presented or records made.

After dozens of tests administered to her, dozens of hours of examinations and multiple positive evaluations of her capacity, 89-year-old Holocaust Survivor Marie Winkelman is still steel-trapped in Florida’s black-hole guardianship system, with her life in limbo and her assets at stake. Every court hearing costs Marie’s assets thousands of dollars. Every mediation costs Marie’s assets thousands of dollars. And every day costs Marie heartache as she aches to be free.

Why were Marie’s positive evaluations withheld from the court? Why did Marie’s attorney, Audrey Bear, not file the first positive evaluation of Marie with the court until May 30, 2014, almost four months after its completion in early February?

Why was Marie’s second positive evaluation from another psychiatrist not filed with the court until May 28, 2014, when the report was already signed by the psychiatrist nearly one month earlier on April 30? Under Florida law, a positive evaluation from a physician can restore a Ward’s rights, but Marie’s rights are not restored despite positive evaluations from two psychiatrists.

To date, Marie Winkelman’s assets mean gainful employment for:

Attorney Rebecca Proctor and at least one other attorney from her firm, Kirk Pinkerton

An ambitious new resource will be added to the campaign against elder abuse in Minnesota, taking square aim at a growing 21st Century crime: financial exploitation of vulnerable adults.

The Minnesota Elder Justice Center, slated to open at the William Mitchell College of Law in January, combines the Minnesota S.A.F.E. Elders Initiative developed by the Anoka County attorney’s office with the Center for Elder Justice and Policy at William Mitchell. The new center — announced Thursday, on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day — will be staffed, have a toll-free hot line and offer resources through an Internet site, said Iris Freeman, associate director for the Center for Elder Justice and Policy.

“We need to remove the walls of family shame,” said Scott Campbell, a former Duluth police officer who took his brother to court after learning he’d stolen $107,000 from their mother.

Campbell, who was honored for his advocacy work during Thursday’s program at William Mitchell in St. Paul, warned that seniors are being bilked of billions of dollars in a variety of ways: by family members, fraudulent business deals and Internet scams.

The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that as many as 2 million older adults are victims each year of financial exploitation, at a collective loss of $3 billion per year. In Minnesota, allegations of the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult reported to Adult Protective Services rose from 3,900 in 2011 to 5,546 last year.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Today is Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Obama announced he was making that official. I can only imagine the media spins that are being constructed right now to cement in the public mind that it is only family and friends who abuse, neglect and exploit the elderly.

We know better. We know family and friends account for only 4-5 % of the abuse of the elderly. The remainder is at the hands of professionals who game the system in order to loot the estate. But mainstream media won't even mention that!

Tonights show will highlight many of the cases of professional predators operating within corrupt probate courts across the country that have stolen billions from the elderly while holding them prisoner in what usually turns out to be a sub-standard facility. Forced medication, anyone?

ABC News confirmed that the radio personality died today in a California hospital. He was 82.

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars," was how he ended every program.

In recent years, the radio personality's health declined and in 2013, his daughter Kerri said he was suffering from a form of dementia. Around that time, his three oldest children and brother launched a claim that his wife Jean was not letting them see their father. A court denied a petition his daughter Julie launched to take care of her father in October 2013, but just last month, Kerri was granted conservatorship amid a battle with Kasem's second wife, her stepmother, Jean.

Each year, the international community renews its commitment to addressing a human rights issue that too often goes ignored — elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Elder abuse damages public health and threatens millions of our parents, grandparents, and friends. It is a crisis that knows no borders or socio-economic lines. On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, we strengthen our resolve to replace neglect with care and exploitation with respect.

America must lead by example, and my Administration remains dedicated to ending elder abuse, supporting victims, and holding abusers accountable. Under the Affordable Care Act, we enacted the Elder Justice Act. Through this law, the Federal Government has invested in identifying, responding to, and preventing elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Because eliminating this pervasive crime requires coordinated action, we are bringing together Federal agencies; non-profit and private sector partners; and State, local, and tribal governments. Together, we can build a more responsive criminal justice system, give seniors the tools to avoid financial scams, and determine the best ways to prevent elder abuse before it starts.

Seniors have provided for their families, risen to the challenges of their times, and built ladders of opportunity for future generations. Many have served our Nation with honor. After decades of hard work, they have earned the right to enjoy their retirement years with a basic sense of security. Today, let us join with partners around the globe in declaring that we will not fail the men and women who raised us, sacrificed for us, and shaped our world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 15, 2014, as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day by learning the signs of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and by raising awareness about this growing public health issue.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

Follow NASGA's Facebook Page

Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

Follow NASGA on Linked-in

Google+ Followers

Help Support NASGA!

Another great way to donate to NASGA is by doing your online shopping with Goodshop!
They will donate up to 20% of your purchases back to us and offer great savings at places like Neiman Marcus, Adidas, and Sundance Catalog.
So, you can save money and help us stop guardian abuse too!

Follow by Email

NASGA supports

Disclaimer

Victim stories are written and submitted by individual victims. NASGA has no knowledge or responsibility as to the accuracy or validity of their statements. Use of any such story or information contained therein in any manner is not authorized without prior written consent from NASGA or the individual author.

Comments on this site are moderated. NASGA reserves the right to accept, reject or delete any comments posted. Comments are the sole responsibility of the sender.

This site contains links to web sites controlled or offered by third parties (non-affiliates of NASGA).

NASGA hereby disclaims liability for any information, material, products, services, or any other, posted or offered at any of the third-party sites. By creating a link to a third-party site, NASGA does not endorse or recommend any products or services offered. NASGA further disclaims liability for the content, security, validity or accuracy contained in said third-party sites.

NASGA Followers

NASGA

NASGA (National Association to STOP Guardian Abuse, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) public-interest, civil rights organization formed by victims of unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships. We seek legislative reform of existing law and upgrading of criminal penalties for court-appointed fiduciaries misusing protective proceedings for unjust enrichment and engaging in elder and family abuse.

Our mission is to promote the safety and well being of vulnerable persons subject to injury and damage in their person and property through unlawful and abusive guardianship and/or conservatorship proceedings; to end the growing violations of due process, civil and human rights; to work towards ultimate legislative reform of guardianship as presently practiced; upgrading of criminal penalties for court-appointed fiduciaries misusing protective proceedings for unjust enrichment; and to be a support organization for victims and their families. We carry out our mission through research, outreach, education and advocacy; and going forward, by alliance with community interest, law reform, civil rights and other advocacy organizations.

Any copyrighted material included herein is distributed in accordance with the Fair Use section of 17 U.S.C. 107, in the interest of public research and education, without profit.

NASGA claims no credit for any images posted on this site. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it to appear here, please E-mail at Info@StopGuardianAbuse.org with a link to the image and we will promptly remove it.

Comments and opinions posted to our Blog are our readers - not NASGA. We do not censor comments, and we welcome opposing views. We do reserve the right, however, to delete any submitted comment which contains foul or obscene language.

Please visit our website by clicking the link below for more information on how you can help stop guardianship / conservatorship abuse.